Critic to keep organising protests:

Europe

Navalny

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny said on Tuesday he would press ahead with organising more anti-Kremlin demonstrations despite being jailed after orchestrating the biggest protests against the authorities in years.

Navalny, who wants to run against Vladimir Putin for president next year, was speaking a day after being freed from jail where he spent 15 days for his role in big nationwide protests last month which ended with over 1,000 arrests.

“I of course assess the March 26 action to be very successful,” said Navalny, addressing his supporters in an online broadcast.

“It was the first simultaneous action in towns since the 1990s. Despite the fact that the authorities tried to frighten everyone ... tens of thousands took to the streets. We need to continue.”

The demonstrations buoyed the liberal opposition’s morale a year before a presidential election, but angered the Kremlin which dismissed them as an illegal provocation.

They were awkward for Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev with many protesters calling for his resignation after Navalny accused him of amassing a fortune that outstripped his salary.

Medvedev says the allegations are politically-motivated “nonsense.”

Putin, who has dominated Russia’s political landscape for the last 17 years, has not yet said whether he will run for what would be a fourth presidential term next year but is widely expected to do so.

For now, opinion polls suggest Navalny has little chance of unseating the Russian leader, who enjoys high ratings. (RTRS)